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Guidelines for the Honours Dissertation

For a research project in the area of Translation Studies please refer to Guidelines for a Translation Project as an Honours Dissertation

These guidelines are available in Acrobat (pdf) format.

Supervision

The supervisor is required to meet regularly with the Honours candidate, or to ensure that the candidate is adequately supervised (by email, telephone or an in-country supervisor) when he or she is studying overseas.

Honours interim progress reports should be submitted after 5 months in the case of a 24-point dissertation (F/T) over 12 months. Any problems regarding the process of supervision should be addressed. The report is to be discussed with and signed by the student.

Honours Dissertation

A 24-point Honours thesis will be approx. 15-18,000 words in length (excluding prefaces, endnotes and appendices, etc.).

The thesis may be written in English or in the target language. If the thesis is written in the target language, the abstract should be written in English. Students writing the thesis in the target language should also discuss with their supervisor whether to reference in the target language or in English.

A dissertation should contain the following:

Also see How to Set Out the Thesis

The dissertation should address the following points:

Documentation

Listing primary materials and acknowledgement of existing research through careful citations and appropriately extensive listing of references or bibliography at the end of the dissertation.

Problem Definition and Methodology

Statement of the research problem, the aims of the dissertation and the significance of the research. Discussion of theoretical positions that throw light on the research problem. Explanation of the methodology used. Explanation of choice of samples or materials.

Analysis and Argumentation

Analysis of the samples or materials assembled to address the research problem. Implications of the analysis and relation to research problem. Logic of argument. New directions suggested for future research on the issues. Questions of adjustment of methodology.

The dissertation must meet the standards of academic writing:

Overall Structure of the Dissertation and the Quality of Prose

Articulation and progression of major units or chapters. Maintenance of overall theme or point that gives research coherence and significance. Clarity, precision and economy of writing. Accuracy and appropriateness of language used.

Style

Overall presentation of thesis. Presentation of title page. Pagination, layout, margins, typographical perfections, appropriate citation style, use of headings, etc.

Submission of an Honours Dissertation

Three copies of the thesis should be submitted on the due date to the School's administrative officer in charge of Honours (4 copies are required from students doing combined Honours). One copy of the thesis should be submitted in a 2-ring black folder, and 2 copies are to be bound. Students are also encouraged to submit a copy of their dissertation on CD ROM in PDF format.

The Honours Dissertation shall be due within one week of the end of the teaching period for the relevant semester. It should be delivered during office hours, in the relevant number of copies to the School Administrative Office.

Applications for any extension of the submission date of the Honours thesis should be made before the submission date. For an extension up to the end of the examination period applications must be made to the Honours Committee of the School. Requests for extensions beyond that time will need to be made to the Faculty.

A complete version is to be submitted to the honours supervisor well before the due date to allow for comments and revisions. We recommend to allow at least two weeks for this process.

Examination of the Honours Dissertation

  1. Each dissertation shall be examined by two examiners.

  2. The appointment of examiners shall be the responsibility of the Honours Committee, following nomination on the appropriate form by the Honours Convenor of the relevant discipline in consultation with the supervisor. Prior to submission of the form, either the supervisor or the discipline Honours Convenor shall contact informally contact the examiners and ascertain their willingness to act in this capacity.

  3. In most cases, both examiners should be appointed from within the School. Depending on the thesis topic, it is, where necessary, possible to appoint external examiners from other Monash Schools and Faculties or from other  universities. In the case of Combined Honours, an examiner from each discipline will be appointed.

  4. Following the appointment of examiners, the Executive Officer of the Honours Committee shall contact the examiners and provide such information as the Honours Committee shall from time-to-time prescribe.

  5. Where an examiner subsequently, for any reason, cannot complete the examination process, the Convenor of the Honours Committee following consultation with the Honours Convenor of the relevant disciplinary area shall invite another examiner to act.

  6. Examiners' reports and grades should be returned to the administrative officer in charge of Honours, who will collate them.

  7. If there is a difference between the two examiners' marks of 10% or more, or if the examiners award different grades, an adjudicator will be requested to review the examiners' reports and the thesis in order to determine the final mark. This mark will override the two marks given by the initial examiners.

  8. All final marks must be approved by the Program, and then by the School Honours Committee.

Marking System

The examiners will be asked to comment on documentation, issue/problem, definitions and methodology, analysis and argumentation, overall structure and the quality of the prose and style (and assess accordingly).

The following weighting is recommended for a thesis written in English :

1. Referencing and Citation up to 10%
2. Problem Definitions and Methodology up to 25%
3. Analysis and Argumentation up to 60%
4. Overall Structure and the Quality of the Prose up to 20%
5. Style up to 5%

The following weighting is recommended for a thesis written in one of the target languages :

1. Referencing and Citation up to 10%
2. Problem Definitions and Methodology up to 25%
3. Analysis and Argumentation up to 40%
4. Overall Structure and the Quality of the Prose up to 40%
5. Style up to 5%

Grading System

80 - 100 H1 (High Distinction)
70 - 79 H2A (Distinction)
60 - 69 H2B (Credit)
50 - 59 H3 (Pass)

Descriptors

Examiners will be guided by the following descriptors:

H1 (80-100)

The award of an H1 indicates that the student is capable of progressing directly to a PhD.

95 plus Truly exceptional

Truly exceptional achievement equivalent to the best scholarship in the academic field. Material publishable with revisions. Exhibits rare interpretive and analytic insight.

90-94 Exceptional

Outstanding. Makes a significant contribution to knowledge. Exceptional in grasp of current methodology. Exhibits great interpretive subtlety. Extremely well written.

85-89 Outstanding

Outstanding work of a quality well above average for the Honours H1 grade. Illustrates considerable independence in research. Makes a substantially contribution to knowledge. Strong grasp of critical and theoretical approaches to topic and of research methodology. Exhibits interpretive subtlety. Very well written.

80-84 Accomplished

Accomplished work which demonstrates capacity for originality and sound research potential. Demonstrated grasp of current critical and theoretical approaches to the topic and of sustained research methodology. Exhibits some interpretive subtlety and genuine research capacity reflected in the level of analytic insight. Well written.

H2A Very Good (70-79)

The thesis makes a contribution to the discipline. It is well written and argued on the whole and shows ability to draw perceptive conclusions and make a good evaluation of the subject. Some weaknesses or limitations are present to exclude the thesis from the excellent category. Examples of such weaknesses include flaws in argumentation, limited insights or intellectual evaluations, gaps in supporting evidence and inept of defective presentation. An H2A indicates that the student is capable of progressing to Postgraduate studies.

H2B Good (60-69)

The thesis presents adequate treatment of the topic. The work, however, reveals limitations in scope/ argumentation which exclude it from higher honours categories. In addition, or alternatively it may have flaws in such areas as documentation, quality of research or written presentation of such an order that the total result although adequate is not distinguished.

H3 Fair (50-59)

The thesis shows flaws in treatment of topic, and lacks the qualities outlined in the above categories. Argumentation is limited and overall documentation, methodology, or quality of research is only fair, but nonetheless the thesis shows some attempt to carry out an initial research exercise.

N – Fail (below 50%)

The thesis is not sufficiently well-researched or written to meet the requirements of an Honours thesis. The quality of research may be inadequate, the basic argumentation unsound, and presentation unscholarly and too hard to follow.

For a research project in the area of Translation Studies please refer to the following guidelines:

Guidelines for a Translation Project as an Honours Dissertation

The project will be approximately 15,000-18,000 words in length for a 24-point thesis, consisting normally of a translation of approximately 9,000-10,000 words, with a research commentary of 6,000-8,000 words. The research commentary should contain a substantial critical introduction and a methodological discussion and /or critical annotations. (In the case of a poetry translation the length of the text might be considerably shorter, in which case the commentary may be longer.)

The research component of the project will reflect a critical engagement with the discourse and/or discipline of the original text, as well as an understanding of issues involved in the translation process and an awareness of relevant methodologies. The introduction will include a literature review and a description of the theoretical framework that will be employed in the project. It will also include:

  1. A justification for the translation of the text, translation being either "scholarly" (theoretical or literary) (this is a text that should be translated and why), commercial (this is a text that people want translated and why) or necessary for professional / institutional reasons (this is a text that people need translated and why).
  2. A theoretical discussion of specific problems associated with the type of text genre chosen for translation
  3. A more practically oriented discussion of specific problems encountered while undertaking the original translation
  4. A discussion of the application of aspects of translation theory to the text chosen for translation.

The introduction may also include a comparative approach to the structure and functioning of texts in different language-cultures; any other discussion involving theoretical or methodological questions approved by the supervisor.

The text for translation should be selected before enrolment in consultation with the Supervisor, Translation Studies Programs, and the relevant Honours coordinator.

The annotations will focus on relevant translation strategies and the linguistic choices involved in the translation.

It is recommended that students who undertake a translation project as their Honours dissertation should enrol in the 12-point unit "Introduction to Translation Studies".

Guidelines for Examiners - Dissertation in Translation Studies

It is recommended that dissertations in Translation Studies be assessed according to the following criteria:

1. Translation 40%

The translation meets the following criteria

The translation:

2. Research component 60%

Rationale for translation component 5 - 10%

Discussion of theoretical/ Methodological issues

 50 - 55%

LCL Honours

Program and Centre
Honours Information